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Castiel had a deep frown on his face, and Sam nudged him with his foot, "You okay, Cas?" He glanced at Sam and nodded, "It's just my wings. They're unkept." Castiel said. Eileen tilted her head, "Do you groom them yourself?" She asked, and Castiel signed, "Sort of."
"I can't reach all of them." Castiel said as he signed, and Eileen nodded. "We can always help you if you want." Castiel thought about it, it would be nice to have someone help. "I'd appreciate the help, but it is an intimate gesture." Castiel explained, and Eileen smiled. "More intimate than what we already do?"
"Probably not," Castiel admitted. Sam tapped his fingers against the table, "How are we going to do this? Can you bring them onto this plane?" Castiel glanced at his wings. "They're on this plane right now. They were getting cramped. But they're invisible to the human eye."
Eileen nudged Sam, "The glasses. Would they work?" She asked, and Sam looked to Castiel. "We can try." Castiel said, and Sam looked down at Eileen, "Yes. But does that mean you're going to look hotter or cuter?"
"Both." Castiel said, and Eileen nodded, "Both."
Sam picked up the torch and moved it over the glasses as evenly as possible. Eileen was holding his glasses for him in her hair. While he forged hers. "Definitely hotter." Castiel said, and Sam nodded. She raised an eyebrow, "Not wearing them yet."
"Yeah, but we can tell." Sam signed. Eileen shrugged. He picked them up and tested them looking at Castiel. "They work." Sam said, and handed them over to Eileen. She handed Sam's back to him and they both put them on, and looked at each other. "Talking about me, as if you're not hot." Eileen signed and Sam blushed.
Sam looked at Castiel, he had his wings tucked behind him. "Perhaps somewhere more private." Castiel requested, Eileen and Sam nodded.
Sam scratched the back of his head, "I figured my room, not the dungeon." Castiel shook his head, "Dean likes to barge into your room. Locks are no use." And well, he had a point. Eileen was already standing behind Castiel looking at his wings, and sighed. "You should've let us help sooner."
Castiel couldn't see the ones she was referring to but could feel them. He turned around and signed to her, "I don't like to think of them in their current state." Eileen rested her hand on his shoulder, "They're gorgeous."
They saw Castiel's wings react to the compliment, "Your wings are expressive?" Eileen asked, and Castiel nodded. "Yes, so is my grace." Sam looked at Castiel's wings, "Can we touch them?"
"Yes." Castiel said, and watched as Sam carefully reached out and slid his hand down it, "They're soft." Sam hadn't noticed Castiel's reaction, but Eileen did. She looked at Sam, "I see why he wanted privacy."
Sam let go and raised an eyebrow, "What?" He signed, and Eileen held up a finger and reached for a feather. She ran her finger down the same as Sam did, Castiel's expression was one the two were very familiar with, "Oh."
"I believe I said intimate before we started." Castiel signed. "They're very sensitive."
Sam nodded, and looked at the tangled feathers, "We'll do our best to avoid hurting you." Castiel nodded, eyes closed, "I trust you both." He signed and voiced. They had Castiel sit down on a chair and untuck his feathers. The ones Castiel could reach were definitely the best kept. But the ones closer to the bone were the more battered ones. Which both knew were going to be the more sensitive ones as well.
They both had spray bottles and towels, figuring the first step should be to clean them. Castiel's wings twitched at each spray and Sam could hear Castiel's annoyed huffs. Sam tried not to laugh at his annoyance, but he found it endearing.
It took much longer than the three had expected. But they were being delicate and checking on Castiel to assure he was still okay. Especially as just wiping them down had resulted in many feathers falling onto the ground. Castiel assured he'd expected it.
The once white towels were dark in blood. They kept them out of view of Castiel, and simply threw them away. They took a break and allowed Castiel to move his wings freely, and sat in front of him. "You two are very interesting." Castiel signed.
"How so?" Sam signed back, and Castiel lifted his wings, "I appreciate the break, and the gentleness. But I am used to a less pampering experience. Angels do help each other and prioritize efficiency over anything else."
Sam shrugged, "Yeah, but the difference is we care." Sam signed, and he was right. Grooming is something all angels do but no one took any extra time on them than needed.
"Ready to resume?" Eileen asked and Castiel nodded. Eileen and Sam pulled their chairs behind Castiel and decided to start on the ones further back. Castiel kept his wings spread out helping them see which feathers needed their attention and which ones didn't. They both worked on the same wing, on opposite sides.
It was fairly silent as they focused, something Castiel didn't mind. He could feel them straightening out individual feathers, they identified his glands to oil the feathers and took their time with each one. Castiel had seen a few that they had fixed. They got neater with each feather as they discovered a rhythm to it.
At some points they'd run into feathers that needed to be plucked and Castiel had pulled out a few on his own after sensing their hesitancy. But with Castiel's encouragement they simply plucked them and moved on. Learning the more they messed with it, the more it agitated Castiel.
Even with those moments, Castiel was fairly relaxed as they massaged his feathers back to life. They learned how much pressure was needed, and got quicker. As they approached the most neglected ones, they helped hold out parts of Castiel's wings as the other detangled and smoothed them out. They didn't dwell on them longer than needed. Much to Castiel's relief.
They pushed back from the first wing, it felt much better than the other. Castiel stretched it out. He raised it and flexed it to see if any feathers needed a touch up but found none needing his help. He waved them around before setting it back down, "Thank you."
Sam and Eileen nodded and moved over to his other wing. It was the same process as the other one. It didn't take nearly as much time as the first one did. Castiel distracted himself by looking at his finished wing. It's been a very long time since he felt confident enough to look at them. But they were clean, even if sparce in certain places.
Castiel could see the dedication and care in each one. Even if the ones he did were technically groomed better, his eyes focused on the ones from his lovers. There was love poured into them and he was grateful for them.
Eileen had finished the last feather, and ran her finger down the feather with a smile. Sam and Eileen got up, and stretched. Maybe they should've paid better attention to their posture but that was forgotten as they watched Castiel studying his freshly groomed feathers.
He raised them up and spread them out freely. "So?" Sam asked, "Do they still hurt?" Castiel shook his head, "No. This is the best they've felt in a long time." Castiel used his wings to pull them closer, and let his grace wash over them. Freeing them of their ailments in their backs, necks, and hands. But hummed appreciatively.
Castiel lifted them and dragged them across their shoulders and down their backs causing them to both shiver. Castiel seemed very pleased with the reactions he got, "Hmm. It seems my wings cause sensitivity to humans.”
“We should examine that.” Eileen said, and Castiel hummed, “We should.” He signed. Sam shook his head with a smile, “We just got them clean for you to get them dirty, huh?
“This is important science, Sam.” Castiel signed and voiced, and Sam raised an eyebrow, “Oh, is it?” He signed and Castiel nodded. “We definitely need to explore these new discoveries.” Eileen agreed.
Sam signed, “The bigger experiment we should go over is how sensitive they are to you.” And ran his fingers through Castiel's feathers. Pulling the exact breathless reaction he had expected. “Right, Eileen?” Sam signed. “What about both?” She asked back.
Sam hummed appreciatively, “I believe we can do both.” Sam said, pulling at Castiel's tie to bring him closer. Eileen had already grabbed a hold of Castiel's coat and began to slip it off his shoulders. Their research was quite extensive and thorough. And as most important research is done, it was repeated multiple times.